Author: jennmchoi

For me, it was last year when I boarded a one-way flight from San Francisco to Berlin. Alone and nervous. Ready yet still so naive.

I arrived on a crisp November day with two pieces of luggage, a broken heart from losing my mom to cancer, and a too-thin jacket from California. As I stepped through the falling leaves, teeth chattering in the cold, I thought to myself “Holy shit, it’s finally happening.…

I have to admit, before I went to Burning Man I was like many of you out there — certain that it wasn’t for me.

Friend: You still haven’t been to Burning Man yet?

Me: Um, you mean pay money to fry in the desert for a week with no showers? Who would voluntarily subject themselves to that kind of “vacation” *cough* torture*cough*? Especially while I could spend the week on a beach in Spain drinking wine instead?

Today I want to talk about two very important topics: Blockchain and Death. They might seem unrelated but actually blockchain could really make life and death easier for families. I would know. Blockchain technology could’ve helped mine when I lost my mom to cancer.

You might not care about blockchain (yet) and may be asking yourself, “What the heck does blockchain have to do with my family?”

I have always tried to appreciate the little things in my seemingly ordinary life. However, I had no idea that a daily practice for 100 days would help me get through the most difficult loss of my life. What began as an art project became a cathartic journey and my saving grace.

It’s the life-changing event that no one can ever prepare for. The news that no one wants to ever receive. How could the person who gave you life no longer be alive? It doesn’t make sense. There must be a mistake. Maybe they’re just sleeping? It can’t be. You lose your breath.

It’s my first birthday without my mom, the person who gave me life. We lost her last June after a seven-year journey with blood cancer. I miss my mom so much. We used to spend every birthday together and ever since her passing, I haven’t been able to write publicly. However, I believe that she would want me to so here I begin again.

What does that mean? It means that I’m authentically integrating all the different aspects of myself, and sharing the whole human being for the world to see.

Before, I felt a bit segmented. The different parts of my life were compartmentalized into neat little boxes. For years, when I was working in corporate, I felt like I had to split between a Work Me and a Personal Life Me.…